Running Through My Nightmares
by Reiji Neko Mitsukai
Summary: The Gundam Pilots are trapped running through a nightmare that is not one of theirs, but one of my own, which is more horrifying than you think. Terminated.
1. Author's Note

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.  
  
Warning: Contains heavy horror elements and swearing.  
  
* * * *  
  
This part of the story doesn't come from any Gundam Wing point of view. This is from me, the author.  
  
I have been reading many horror stories on fanfiction.net, and they were all good. And they were all scary. Their authors did a very good job.  
  
But one thing was missing.  
  
Sure, they may have played the video game, maybe even beat it once or twice. But mine is not a game you can win. I always lose.  
  
You can call me crazy. Call me whatever you like. You can call me insane, whacked, whatever. But whatever you say, it will never make me win the game. Because I can't. I've been trying for ten years to win this game. But I always lose. Ever since that one night, every time I lay down in my bed the game starts again.  
  
The nightmares that threaten to disturb my sleep will always be there.  
  
The point of this story is just like all the other ones; to entertain you and to scare you, keep you hanging on every word you read until the last moment.  
  
So wait until it's dark, then shut off all the lights. Your only source of light is the computer, which holds this tale. Then start reading.  
  
I now present to you; the story in which I put the Gundam Pilots though a different kind of hell. My own, personal hell. 


	2. It All Begins...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the family.  
  
Warnings: Contains heavy horror elements and swearing.  
  
* * * *  
  
"This is all your fault, Maxwell."  
  
"Is not!"  
  
"You're the one who left the map in the bathroom."  
  
"Stop being mean Wufei! Nobody told me I was responsible for it!"  
  
Wufei continued to stare out the windshield from the passenger seat as Quatre stopped the argument.  
  
"Come on you guys, it was nobody's fault. Let's just find the nearest town and find out where we are."  
  
Duo, who was stuck between Quatre and Trowa in the back seat of the car, squirmed and mumbled "It was not."  
  
Heero, who was in the driver's seat, shot a glance down at his watch and saw that it was 11:00 PM. He returned his eyes to the road to see a flash of light in the distance.  
  
Duo's head appeared between Heero and Wufei's seats. "A car broke down! Let's pick them up!"  
  
"No."  
  
Duo looked over at Heero with confusion on his face. "What?"  
  
Heero continued to drive, eyes trained on the road. "You heard me. No."  
  
Trowa, from the backseat, turned away from the window. "They might know where we are. They could lead us to the nearest town."  
  
Heero glanced back at Trowa, replied with a "Hn.", and slowed the car down.  
  
  
  
The people from the car were nice enough. There was a total of five. First was Adreanne, a woman in her late twenties with long brown hair. Then there was her husband, Robert, with short black hair. Their daughter, Katrina, or Katie for short, was six years old and had long brown hair like her mother. Then there was Robert's brother, Alex, who also had short black hair. Alex's son, Billy, was also along. Billy was sixteen and had shoulder length blonde hair. Their car had broke down while going on a family vacation.  
  
Of course, it was rather difficult to fit five more people in an already packed car. Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, and Duo gave up their seats and sat on the floor. Duo sat on the left side of the back floor, leaning against the door. Adreanne sat on the seat above him, with little Katie in her lap. Quatre sat in the middle of the floor, while Alex sat in the seat above him. Trowa sat on the right side of the floor, while Billy sat above him. Wufei gave his front passenger seat to Robert, and sat between the driver and passenger seats. Heero stayed in the driver's seat.  
  
"Well, this is fun," said Duo. He subconsciously played with the end of his braid, which was over his right shoulder.  
  
Little Katie turned her head to a forty five-degree angle, reached down and picked up his braid. "You got pretty hair."  
  
Duo smiled. "Thanks. I could braid your hair too if you want. It would look like mine."  
  
Katie's face lit up. She nodded furiously. "Uh huh!"  
  
Adreanne smiled. "Do you want to sit on my lap while he braids you hair?" she asked Katie.  
  
Katie shook her head. "I wanna sit on Duo's!" With that, she crawled down from her mother's lap and onto Duo's.  
  
~  
  
Duo finished Katie's braid a little while later with the attention of everybody in the back seat and on the floor.  
  
"There. All done."  
  
"You look pretty, Katie," said Adreanne.  
  
Katie reached over her right shoulder and pulled it over so she could see it.  
  
"So, what do you think?" Duo asked.  
  
Katie was obviously happy with the results, because a big smile came on her face and she latched herself around Duo's neck, hugging him tightly.  
  
"Thank you Duo!"  
  
Everyone in the back seat smiled.  
  
~  
  
It was nearly an hour later. Things had settled down a bit. Katie had fallen asleep in her mother's lap. Duo had also fallen asleep leaning against the door. Quatre was resting his head on his folded arms, which were resting on his knees. The only thing keeping him from falling over in his sleep was Trowa leaning against him on one side.  
  
Heero's watch beeped midnight.  
  
Crack-KABOOM!  
  
The sudden sound of thunder and the flash of light in the sky woke everybody who was sleeping. Quatre and Duo jumped as Katie clung fearfully to her mother. More thunder and lightning sounded and Katie whimpered. Adreanne comforted her daughter.  
  
Rain poured down onto the car in sheets. Heero turned on the windshield wipers.  
  
All of a sudden, the car died.  
  
Heero looked down at the dashboard. The "Low Fuel" light was flashing. "Hn?" He was sure there was at least half a tank not too long ago.  
  
"Excuse me, but what's going on?" Adreanne asked from the back seat.  
  
Heero turned the ignition off. "We're out of gas."  
  
"That can't be. We just filled it two hours ago," said Wufei.  
  
"Then your car is a piece of junk," said Billy from beside Alex.  
  
Alex scolded his son. "Billy! You have no right to say that!"  
  
Robert looked out the windshield. "Well it looks like we're in luck." He pointed to something outside. Everyone followed his gaze.  
  
"I can't see anything, it's too dark," said Quatre.  
  
Lightning lit the sky, along with what Robert had seen. It looked like an old mansion; it had to be at least three stories tall. No lights were on. Cobwebs hung off the sides and gathered around the corners. In the yard there was what looked like a forest, except all the trees were dead. Cobwebs hung from branch to branch. The yard was surrounded by an extremely tall black iron fence, with a gate intercepting the driveway. The gate and fence looked like no one had even touched them for ages, because it was beginning to rust. The cobwebs had collected so thick that you couldn't see though in some spots.  
  
Katie whimpered at the sight of it. "It looks scary! I don't like it!" Adreanne held her close.  
  
"It looks abandoned," said Wufei.  
  
"Even if it is abandoned, it still might have a phone inside. We could call for help," Robert reasoned.  
  
Heero thought for a moment, then turned to the rest of the people in the car. "Robert and I are going in. If anyone else wants to come, tell me now."  
  
"I'm going," said Alex.  
  
Billy rolled his eyes, but said, "Count me in."  
  
"I'm coming with," said Wufei.  
  
"Me too," said Duo.  
  
"So will I," said Trowa.  
  
Quatre paused. "I'll go too."  
  
"We'll go too," Adreanne said.  
  
Katie instantly rejected the idea. "But mommy, it's scary! I don't want to go in there! I don't like it!"  
  
Adreanne tried to calm Katie down. "It's just a big house. It can't hurt you."  
  
"It's settled. We're all going." Heero got out of the car and everyone else followed. They all walked in the pouring rain towards the black iron gate.  
  
* * * * 


	3. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I only own the family.

Author's note: This fic is permanently terminated. I simply do not have the will or bravery to attempt to finish it. I will, however, write an epilogue for you to enjoy, as a chapter cannot be just an author's note.

You will be pleased to know the nightmares mentioned in the first chapter are almost non-existent now- they only reappear every once in a great while. Of course, now I'm stuck with the nervous reaction I get whenever I see or hear the cause of those nightmares, but that's far from something you guys should be concerned about.

Anyway, the author's note at the end of the chapter will fill you in on the part you missed, as well as the fates of all involved.

And now, without further adieu, the end:

_Running Through My Nightmares: Epilogue_

The shuttle back to L4 was… quiet, for lack of a better term. The boys were keeping to themselves, staring out the windows, absorbed in their own thoughts. It had been little less than two days since the unwanted visit to the old mansion in the middle of nowhere. None of them had slept since then.

They had gone back, only after they had their Gundams. They threw everything they had at the building until it was a smoking crater. Then they did it again. And again, carving up the ground around it and incinerating everything. They wanted nothing to remain- not the underground cavern, not the trees, not the truck…

Quatre sat with his hands on his upper arms, every once in a while rubbing them to console himself. He could still feel the cobwebs sometimes- on his face, in his hair, on his hands… He was tired, but couldn't bring himself to sleep. Not after everything he had seen.

Pulling his eyes away from the window and the starry blackness beyond it, he turned his head to look at the occupant of the seat across the walkway. The long brown braid was over a shoulder, cobalt eyes distant in the reflection off the glass. Occasionally a leg would twitch. And, wrapped around a hand, was a long, pink ribbon that had- merely days ago- belonged to a little girl…

_The End_

Author's note: Now, for what was skipped over, here's a rough over view:

_Inside the mansion, the group traveled down to the dungeon-like basement, where they discovered a living corpse in a casket. They fled, only to find the door to the upstairs was now locked tight. They were forced to find an alternate route outside, unarmed and disadvantaged. After traveling through a maze of zombies, vampires, demons, and the living corpse, they made their way to the surface through a storm cellar, in the back yard. Out of the ten they had entered with, there were now only seven. Two more were lost before they reached the car, which started up right away._

_There was still half a tank of gas in the car._

Here's a brief look at the fates of the five that didn't make it, in chronological order:

Alex: Father of Billy, widowed from a car accident that took the life of his wife when Billy was six. He dearly loves his son, no matter how much of a pain the teenage years were becoming. Alex fell victim to female vampires, who drove their tongues down his throat and out through his chest while they kissed him.

Adreanne: Wife of Robert and mother of Katie. A loving wife and mother, who wished only for the best for her family. Most of the time she spent in the mansion was spent shielding her daughter from the horrors that surrounded them. Adreanne was eaten by zombies, most of her abdominal organs gone before the group found her.

Billy: Son of Alex, his life had gone downhill since the death of his mother. His teenage years were especially hard- became insolent and disobedient, even going so far as to getting a tattoo of a dragon on his right shoulder merely because his father had forbid him from getting one. Despite his shortcomings, he is protective of his niece, and he is the one to take over protecting her when Adreanne dies. Billy meets his end when his tattoo comes alive, ripping away from his shoulder and eating him alive.

Robert: Father of Katie and husband of Adreanne. His faith in himself was shaken when he failed to protect his wife from zombies. He was one of the group that survived the mansion, and managed to make it to the backyard. Robert was killed when a flock of vultures came upon him while they were trying to flee the backyard; the last the group saw of him was a vulture holding up an eyeball, by the nerve, in it's beak.

Katie: Daughter of Adreanne and Robert. She became very fond of Duo after he braided her hair for her, and the feelings were mutual. Once Billy was killed, the braided American was the one to pick up the frightened child and shield her from the sights. Katie died when, while fleeing across the front yard of the mansion, she was separated from Duo and an old truck rolled over her.

That's all there is to it. I apologize to anyone that was disappointed to the abrupt ending of this story. If you'd like to continue this story, be my guest.


End file.
